 Hey mate, 40 here, 40 university, and today we're discussing Sydney Trads so I'm in Sydney Australia with my mate Jim Balden. How's it going Jim? Not bad mate, not bad. Not bad at all. So Jim, how would you describe your politics? Uh, conservative. Conservative. But you used to be a commie mate. Yes I did, in my younger days. Okay, so how long have you been conservative? I would say in the last 15, 20 years I began to change my political compass. Right, right, right. Is that like getting married, having kids? Correct. I like to say all sort of few words to our mates. Yeah, yeah, Lopodius and Ashley Bravo. And another one I forgot his name. I am a robber prosper. And prosper, that's right. Robber prosper. And Elliot Blatt and uh, oh some good mates. In Galicia, half Galician. Yeah, half Galician. Yeah, yeah, don't forget the Jews mate, don't forget the Jews. Yeah, so what's it like to be tried in Sydney? Uh, it is um, there's a group of us as I said, about 40, 50 of us, we get together every two or three months. Sometimes we get, we go on a cruise, we get guest lecturers or guest speakers, um various from theology to archaeology to history and modern history, everything and we sort of discuss and have a beer and enjoy ourselves. And you think you might finally like seize power one of these days? Ah, in the next life. Yeah, in the next life, the Sydney Drads are gonna take power. So how do you feel about the current prime minister, Skomo? Skomo? No, no, no. I'm not voting either for labor or liberals. You're not gonna vote for the coalition? No way. You're voting for the nationals? I'm voting for one nation? No, Australia first. Australia first. Is that Cory Bernardi? No, Cory's out of it. Oh, what's his name? He's um, forget his name now. It's just a minor party, but I'm not voting for a major party. They're all the same. There is a new book out on Scott Morrison called The Accidental Prime Minister. Yeah. I want to read it. I mean, I couldn't believe that he put off the 2019 election. No one expected he was gonna do that. Absolutely. I mean, he was simply lucky, I reckon. And the fault is the Labor Party. And how formidable is the current leader of the Labor Party? He used to go to my school. What are you on about it? Albus Leasy. Alban Eazy. What's his first name? He's Anthony Alban Eazy. Anthony Alban Eazy. He used to go to my old school, St Mary's Cathedral, Christian Brothers. And Eazy. In Sydney. He's a better politician than the previous bloke. Oh, yes. They call him each way elbow. Right, right. That's the way to go. If you're going to be a politician or a porn star, you want to be flexible. Flexible, exactly. You want to be able to go multiple ways. Absolutely. But he's not exactly charismatic. No, no, he's not. He hasn't got the gift of the gab. Yeah, he's not lighting the water on fire. No. So, so I think. Cicero will not envy. Yeah, Cicero won't envy Alban Eazy. A bit like the Labour Party leader in the UK, too. He's not exactly. Oh, exactly. Oh, what's his name though? Can't even remember his name. Well, he's supposed to be a conservative, but anyway, he's more... Well, he married, he's married to a very radical feminist. Oh, right. You should know that. I've forgotten. And that's why he's sort of changing politics. Who is the former leader of the Labour Party? He's now a Senator for the Nationals. He's like an outspoken bloke. He led Labour against John Howard and last. Oh, oh, what's his name? He's now when Pauline Hanson's party... No, yes. He's in New South Wales, Parliament. His name is, um... What's his name? Interesting bloke. Yes, he's very, very, very term conservative. He's a deputy leader. What's his name? I forget his name. But he led the Labour Party against John Howard. Absolutely, about 15, 20 years ago. Yeah, right. And he's very capable. He's always on television and skype news. He wrote a book that I want to read. I think I'll have it, but you can forgive it to you. I want to read that book. He's a thoughtful guy. I mean, not often do they go from labor to pulling heads. But my favourite was Tony Abbott. Right. Okay. He was a good Catholic boy and the country was in good hands. What's the name of Pauline Hansen's party? No, he's Sue Pauline Hansen. Right, but what is the name of Pauline Hansen's party? One Nation. One Nation. Right, right, right. Yeah. So that's the story. But I find American politics much more interesting. Yeah, because it's more consequential. Just listening this morning on that Kyle Rittenhouse. Oh, yeah, that Kyle Rittenhouse trial. The jury is still out. Oh, right. So they think it looks like LA. So have you been to LA, Jim? No, no, I have not. Oh, okay. It does feel a bit like LA. It's like same type of weather. No, I'll show you when we get to... So what part of town is this? Well, this is about, we're about... This is called Parramatta Road. Oh, Parramatta. Yeah, a road. And we are about... Oh, God, about in miles and about six miles, seven miles from Sydney, from the center. CBD, Central Business District. And how's the economy here in Sydney? It's okay. If you've got a house or a unit, you're doing fine. It's one of the most expensive cities in terms of real property. Yeah, it is more expensive than LA or New York. Fifth Avenue or so. I mean, it's just ridiculous. When did you guys get out of lockdown? About three weeks ago. And how is your experience of lockdown? Everybody's gone. I've got about 20 cases. Right? Class actions because of lockdown. People got now sacked. And there's a few cases pending. Bad time. Did you catch the COVID? No, I have not. Are you vaccinated? No, I'm not. My wife is. Oh, mate. Because my wife works for, as I said, for legal aid. Why aren't you vaccinated, mate? Get the jab. Well, get the jab, yeah. I'm too lazy, mate. Oh, mate. If we do it together, we can conquer this thing. Yeah, I suppose so. Anyway, it's the situation. Oh. Yeah. I mean, Sydney's been really expensive for a long time. It is. I think it's the third largest, or third most expensive. The most expensive big city in the world, yeah. I think the first one is... It used to be Singapore. Singapore. Tokyo. Tokyo, and then New York. Yeah. And Sydney. But the house is now... The mean average is about $1.5 million. Australian dollars, which is about $1.1 million, approximately. Yeah. Like the average home in, I think, Los Angeles County is like $800,000. $800,000. So it's... I mean, I've got an older house. It'll seem it's worth about $5,000, $6 million. Back in Sydney. Did you grow up here? Yeah. I went to all Catholic schools. I went to St. Benedict's. Right in the city, the primary school. And then I went to St. Mary's Cathedral. And educated by Christian brothers. There was 85% of them. But they never touched me because I was too ugly. Oh, man. Did that hurt your feelings, mate? Oh, no. So did the Catholic, did the priest, did all many kids in Australia? Our cohort, we've got very, very good cohort in terms of... in terms of academic output. There's a Manning, Dr. Manning. There's about five or six lures. There's about eight accountants. There's a few. Oh, Albanese. Albanese is a politician. He's an old boy. Yeah. Actually, my younger brother was in his class. He's about three years behind me. Three or four years behind me. How do people manage to live there? Like ordinary people with ordinary jobs? Well, I think the standard of living is comparable to America, I think. Yeah, it just sounds very expensive. Very expensive for ordinary people. I think everything is expensive. I'm talking about petrol. Leases, conveyance, things like that. And I'll do famine on Tuesday. Okay, we're back. All right, we're entering... Where are we now? We are now in Five Dock. I'm going into the dock. Yeah, into the dock. I'm in trouble now. My God, I'm so disoriented. I keep feeling like there's going to be a car accident. We're driving on the left-hand side. That's why you're disoriented. No worries.